The brute is a hulking amalgamation of turian and krogan victims of the Reapers. Because tissue from dextro-protein species like the turians is incompatible with levo-protein species like the krogan, implants regulate the brute's body chemistry to combat organ rejection.

It is the fusion of turian military skill and krogan blood rage that makes the brute such a formidable enemy, capable of destroying armored vehicles to get to the soldiers inside. Troops are advised to keep their distance, and, whenever possible, not engage a brute alone.

A Brute's main pattern of attack is a charging attack followed with a wide melee attack, both of which deal high damage—often enough to completely drop shields and, subsequently, health. They also can jump and slam their claws into the ground, staggering anything in its path, with the exception of the Geth Juggernaut, Krogan Battlemaster and N7 Destroyer with the Devastator Mode turned on.

It possesses an over-sized claw arm that can grab and smash a person into the ground, resulting in instant death. They can only do this after beating their chest, which appears to be a simple taunt but is something far deadlier.

When they die, Brutes invariably attempt one last attack, swiping with their claw and trying to crush any nearby enemy under their falling bodies.

Defensive

Brutes are protected by thick, metal plates that can be shot off. They possess high armor, but no barriers or shields. Their claw arm is covered in armored plates that cannot be shot off; the Brute will sometimes cover itself with the arm while advancing.

Once you spot a Brute, concentrate most of your fire on it as it can kill you and your team very quickly. Avoid close-quarters combat at all costs.

Maintain a safe distance from a Brute at all times. Better yet, keep some obstacles between you and the Brute, so it can't harm you even if it charges at you. An easy mistake when you're new to Brutes is forgetting to run away and open distance from time to time--doubly so if you're fighting ONLY a Brute, as the Brute has no ranged attack, so you can just stay on the move and remain untouched. If the Brute is accompanied by a few ranged allies, you can often use powers to suppress and distract them while you move away from the Brute.

Large parts of the Brute are protected by armor plating, making those areas immune to damage until shot off. Most notable is the claw arm, which it will sometimes use as a shield for its head. Equip mods or ammunition and use powers such as Warp or Cryo Blast, which reduce the effectiveness of armor, or resort to powers like Carnage and Incinerate, which ignore armor plating outright.

The Brute's rear is its largest unarmored area. It can be especially easy to target when the Brute has just charged past or is attacking another character.

Repeated use of Warp followed by Throw will create biotic explosions that will take down the Brute very quickly. This is true even when the Throw power appears "orange" on the power wheel, and is especially effective because of Throw's high recharge speed. Upgrading the biotic explosion damage and recharge rates on these powers makes this tactic even more effective.

In single-player, if a Brute manages to come into close range and performs a charging attack against the player, the game will slow down for a brief moment. A well timed combat roll during this window will allow the player to emerge unscathed.

Take advantage of ladders, which Brutes cannot climb.

Brutes are less aware of their surroundings than most other enemies, often attempting to charge in locations where obstacles prevent them from reaching their target. This can be exploited by goading the Brute into a charge while in a tight or confined area, standing just behind nearby cover. The Brute will harmlessly hit the obstacle and often spin around in one spot from its own momentum, leaving it wide open to attack. Be careful however, as sometimes Brutes will simply vault over low obstacles.

During later waves in multiplayer Brutes will be accompanied by Banshees. Since the Banshee is slower, prioritize your team's firepower towards the Brute, then the Banshee.

A good tactic in multiplayer is to use the Flamer power that Vorcha possess: while one teammate distracts the Brute, the other can use this power to great effect.

Although dangerous, it is possible for a Vanguard to use Charge against a Brute, especially after a squadmate has used Warp or Reave against it. This will inflict substantial damage and stagger the Brute, giving a little extra time to deal damage before needing to dodge its melee attacks.

Alternatively, if the Brute is very low on health after using Charge, the Vanguard is in an excellent position to finish it off with a shotgun. When executed with Nova and a few well timed dodging rolls, a Vanguard with 200% power availability can easily take down a Brute single-handededly.

Furthermore, if your shields are knocked out by the Brute's attacks, you can simply charge it to replenish your shields, bearing in mind your power cooldown afterwards.

A Vanguard can mitigate a Brute's Charge completely by biotically charging the Brute itself at the same time; the two of you may appear to switch positions and be staggered, but you will take no damage. This is useful for classes that lack dodge manoeuvres.

Shooting the Brute with a high-powered sniper rifle, like the M-98 Widow, in exposed areas of flesh (e.g. the butt), will cause massive damage on lower difficulties.

Another good tactic is to have the M-77 Paladin or N7 Crusader as backup, as these weapons can tear through armor very easily.

In the Resurgence Pack DLC, the Geth Hunter Infiltrator with its "Shield Pulse" Heavy Melee can be effective in dealing with Brutes in hand-to-hand combat, if played on Bronze or leveled properly. The Infiltrator can cloak, kill the Brute and slip away.

A very effective strategy to kill a Brute fast is to have Incendiary Ammo or Armor-Piercing Ammo combined with an accurate and powerful shotgun like the N7 Crusader or the M-11 Wraith. And if supported by powers like Carnage and Incinerate, this combination can destroy the Brute's armor bar very quickly, thus killing the Brute.

Do not stand near a Brute while it's beating its chest; the subsequent roar is enough to cause players to stagger, leaving the player vulnerable to the Brute and its allies.

Brutes do not use their instant kill as often as Atlases or Banshees, although they do still have one. When a Brute beats its chest and its eyes glow red, this means it is ready for a sync kill. Vanguards should express caution and maintain distance when Brutes do this animation, as a single Biotic Charge could mean instant death.

Brutes can be turned against their own infantry by using Dominate on them, which can be a lifesaving action if a Brute is too close to you.

If you find yourself directly in front of a charging Brute, remember that Brutes always follow up a charge with a right hook (on your left). Make sure to dodge to your right to get as far away as possible from the Brute's fist.

Classes with innate faster movement speed (such as drells and the N7 Shadow) can simply move to side when the Brute is charging, rather than using the dodge maneuver. This allows the player to fully take advantage of the Brute exposed rear and increase the time of concentrade fire. Using Adrenaline Module greatly helps.